Preadolescents and Their Online World: Activities, Opportunities, and Challenges

To thrive in today’s digital media society, preadolescents (8–12-year-olds) should adaptively navigate online opportunities and challenges. Supporting them in this requires a clear understanding of how they experience their online world. Therefore, this study examined preadolescents’ online activities and their perceptions of online opportunities and challenges using qualitative methods. In a participatory project, 129 preadolescents explored their online world with interactive activities. An inductive thematic analysis was conducted on the verbatim transcripts of the audio-recorded sessions and photographs of the work created during sessions. The results provided nuanced and comprehensive insights into preadolescents’ online activities, opportunities, and challenges, illustrating the complex and ever-evolving nature of their online world. This study underscores the need for additional research involving preadolescents to better understand what they need to thrive in today’s digital media society.